Post-office box



(No Model.) Y x2 Sheets-Sheet 1. P."R.- TEMPLE & G; W. PIERCE;

POST OFFICE BOX.

Patented-Jan. 10 K1a82.

IL PEI'ERS. PIMo-LRME P'W Wathx'nglon, D. Q

N M a 1. 28h ets-Sheet 2. 8 P. TEMPLE & W; PIERCE.

POST OFFICE BOX.

Patented Jan. 10,1882;

. WE R 'fevoivnZ/Elkmfile, 6'60 1 11am,

N. PZTENs Plwloliihognpmr. Washinglon. EC.

" v UNITED STATES PERCIVAL R. TEMPLE, OF EVERETT, AND GEORGE -VV.PIERCE, OF BOSTON,

PATENT OFFICE.

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THE YALE LOCK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OFSTAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

POST-OFFICE ox.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 252,154, dated January10, 1882.

Application filed April 30, 1881 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, PERGIVAL R. TEMPLE, of Everett, in the county ofMiddlesex, and Gno. WILLIs' PIERCE, of Boston, county of Suffolk, bothinthe State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Post-OfficeLet-ter-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to post-office letterbox systems, and has for itsobject to provide for anew system of receivingmail-matter andfordelivering it.

In the system now generally in use fixed boxes or pigeon-holes arearranged in tiers of any desired number, each box having on the outside,accessible to the subscriber or boxowner, a door with a suitable lock,the key of which isheld by the subscriber. The opposite end of the boxis open for the post-oflice clerks convenience in placing within it theproper mail. I

While this system. possesses many desirable features, it still has someserious defects incident to itfirst, that of lack of safety. While to acertain extent there is safety in the locks usually upon such boxes, theelement of danger lies in the fact that while on the way to or from thepost-oflice a dishonest employ has the opportunity to abstract valuableletters, and nnless' registered all trace of them is lost. Again, thereis lack of privacy in such carriage of mail, because there is usually'noprovision by a large classof subscribers of any receptacle whatever inwhich to carry themail to or from the post-office,and even where mailare open to the inspection of the carriers, and to whonisoever theymay choose to exhibit them.

. Our invention seeks to remove these objections; and it consists ofcertain appliances whereby the security and privacy of mail-matten aregreatly increased, both for conveyance to post-offices and tobox-subscribers places of business.

We propose a new system, contemplating; the use of portable supplementalmail lockboxes, into which the mail can be as readily lrear view of thesame.

distributed as in the present fixed boxes, and by means of which thecontents can be transferred to the hands of thebox-subscribers withoutthe carriers seeing them or havingan opportuniiy of securing any part ofthem, except by resorting to such means as would probably involve theirdetection. Mail-matter can also be placed securely in these portablelock-boxes by box-subscribers at their offices, and thus delivered intothe hands of carriers and be conveyedto the post-ofiice clerks without.the contents of the boxes being seen or disturbed by the carriers.

In the accompanying. drawings, Figure 1 represents a front viewinperspective of four post office boxes, according to our invention,secured in pigeon-holes. Fig. 2 represents a Fig. 3 represents ahorizontal section through two such boxes,

one in its normal position, the other partially withdrawn from itspigeon-hole. Fig. 4sh0ws the rear end of a box with its door closed.

Fig.5 represents a horizontal section of the rear end of the box,showing the position of the parts when the box is partially withdrawn r12 show constructions by which a metallic boxfront or a continuousmetallic frontage is secured.

bags are used, as is sometimes the case, they A- indioates portablemail-boxes, made of an y suitableinaterial, preferably of metal,arranged to slide into and out of pigeon-holes. The outer end, a, ofeach box is solid, and has a ban- Idle, 6;, by which the box is placedinto and withdrawn from the pi geon-hole, and by means of which the boxmay be carried inthe hand of the carrier to and from the post ofifice.In

the end a is a suitable lock, c of any desired posite end, I), of thebox has a hinged door, 0, having a spring-lock, l, to which are twokeys, one in care of the post'otfice clerk and the other in possessionof the box-subscriber. When the box is placed in the pigeon-hole thedoor 0 is closed, and afterward can be unlocked and opened by thepost-office clerk, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 2.

' Upon the door at thehinge end is a projection or boss, g, having acavity, 9, within which is a coil-spring, s,arranged to bear against thelong arm of bell-crank lever t, whose short arm it normally rests uponthe abutment F. The door is held to the box by means of the rod 19,passing throughthe'lugs m of the box and n of the door, and also throughthe bell-crank lever 25, as shown. The lever t is so arranged that whenthe door is open, as shown in Fig. 7, it prevents the door from beingthrown open fully, so as to obstruct the opening of the adjacent box.

The details of construction above described may obviously be modifiedwithout departing from the substance of our invention.

There should be, in connection with each pigeon-hole, two such boxes, A,as have been described, one in possession of the box-subscriberand onein the pigeon-hole. Then, supposing the subscriber to have placed hismail within his portable box at his office, and the box to have beenlocked by him and delivered to his carrier, the latter will convey it tothe post-office. It becomes necessary now to have special means for thedeposit of the mail within the post-office. Accordingly we provide theinclined shelf or counterOand pal tition I? with box-apertures D and thebox stop or strip S. Arriving at the post-office, the carrier places thedoor end of the box in one of the apertures D in an inclined positionand allows-it to remain until the post-office clerk has opened the doorand the contents are'discharged by gravity or by hand into a suitablereceptacle. The dodr being then closed and spring-locked, the carrierwithdraws the empty box and proceeds with it to his box or pigeon-holenumber, unlocks the outside lock, rd, of the box already in thepigeon-hole, withdraws it and inserts the locked box he had brought withhim, which he looks into its place by the lock a or, if a spring-lock'isused, it looks itself into position. He then carries the second box,looked as he finds it, to his employer. At his convenience thepost-office-clerk unlocks the door of box last deposited, throws it opento the position shown in Fig. 2, and places the mail within. As thecarrier withdraws the box from its pigeon-hole the door will beautomatically closed as follows: When the box commences to move thecrank-lever t strikes the end of the side F of the pigeon-hole, causinga reaction by means of spring 8, and the swinging of the door to theclosed position, as shown in Fig. 6. For further assurance of lockingthe door there is a further action by the lever t being furtherdepressed in its passage through the pi geon-hole,

compressing the spring, and thus acting upon the door,'as shown in Fig.5.

There are other methods of closing the door which can be used inconnection with our invention, and we have devised a box so an ranged asnot to require unlocking after the contents have been removed by thepost-oilice clerk, having a slit into which the mail is inserted, andnot requiring the automatic closing of the door, though this methodnecessitates more work on the part of the post-office delivery-clerk,and also makes an opening in the box.

The boxes A should have their ends a made of metal, and they may bepartially glazed and provided with metallic grate-bars at the outerends, if desired.

In practice it will be desirable to cover the outer ends of thepigeon-hole partitions with metal for greater security, as shown inFigs. 9 and 10 at w, and when that is done each portable box with ametallic end, a, locked in place in its pi geon-hole,will, together withthe metalcovered walls of the pigeon-hole, form a complete metallicouter face, including each pigeonhole and box; and a series ofpigeon-holes and boxes locked in place within them will likewise presenta continuous metallic front, in effect substantially the same, althoughthe construction is different, for the purposes of security, as that setforth in Reissued United States Letters Patent No. 8,783, July 1, 1879."

Instead of faci'n gthe fronted ges of the pigeonhole walls with metal, ametal flange or projection, as shown at y, Figs. 11 and 12, may extendoutward from all sides of the metallic end a of each portable box adistance equal to one-half the width of each pigeon-hole partition. Thiswill serve to form a continuous metallic frontage when the boxes are allin place or locked in place inthe pigeon-holes, and will also serve as astop for the insertion of the boxes the proper distance to be locked.-

Having thus described our invention, what we claim,and desire to secureby Letters Patent isa 1 A portable-mailbox closed on all sides and atthe outer end, and provided witha suitable fastening for securing thebox in a pigeonhole, and having a door at the inner end for theadmission of mail-matter, substantially as described.

2. A portable mail-box closed at the outer end, and provided with ahandle for withdrawing and carrying it, and having a door and a lock forfastening the door at the inner end, substantially as described.

' 3. In combination with a pigeon-hole or a series of pigeon-holes openat both ends, a portable supplemental mail-box or series of boxes, (eachwith a metallic front and with a door at its inner end,) securedremovably with in thesame, forming a complete metallic facing orfrontage, while open, for the reception of mail matter l'rom within,substantially as described.

4. In combination with a pigeon-hole open at both ends, a portablemail-box provided with a door at its inner end hinged to the box andprojecting so as to be struck by one of the 5 partition-walls of thepigeon-hole, and closed by the act of withdrawing the box from thepigeon-hole, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the boss g, the bellcrank lever t, the door, therod p, and the 10 spring 8, substantially as described.

6. Thecombination of an inclined shelf, an apertured partition, and astrip or stop,whereby a portable mail-box may be supported in aninclined position for securely depositing its contents within apost-office, substantially as 15 described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 9th day of March, 1881.i 4

PERCIVAL R. TEMPLE. GEO. WILLIS PIERCE.

Witnesses:

O. F. BROWN, H. G. WADLIN.

